The more green space in your neighborhood, studies show, the better off you can be. (NAPS)

(NAPSI)—When it comes to improving your health and happiness,
research suggests that living near a park may be more important than you
think.

What The Scientists Say

“Individuals who move to greener areas have significant and
long-lasting improvements in mental health,” explained Dr. Ian Alcock of the University of Exeter Medical School.

Researchers from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and
Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that women living in the greenest
areas had a 12 percent lower death rate than women living in the least green
areas.

Why Parks Are So Important

Research shows that high-quality parks make cities healthier in nearly
every way.

• Proximity to parks makes it easier for you and your family to
enjoy an active lifestyle, reducing risk for obesity, diabetes and other
serious chronic health conditions.

• Parks make it easy to meet your neighbors and create lasting
friendships.

• Trees and other plants in parks help clean the air and teach kids
about nature.

• Quality park systems can attract new employers and contribute to
economic growth.

Technology For Creating Green Space

Considering all the ways parks boost well-being, you may be glad to learn
there’s something you can do to get more parks built in your community.

Start by visiting ParkServe.tpl.org,
a free online data platform created by the nonprofit The Trust for Public
Land. The site gives people living in 14,000 cities across America the
ability to measure local access to parks and to identify which neighborhoods
need new parks most. You can even draw a potential park on the map and
immediately see how the added green space would change park access and park
equity measures for your city.

The organization believes that everyone deserves to have a quality park
within a 10-minute walk (or a half mile) of home, and hundreds of leading
U.S. mayors have endorsed that goal.

With data and custom reports that are easy to download, print and share, ParkServe can help you make the case for park investment
to your elected officials.